Proverbs 11:10
When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth:
And when the wicked perish, there is shouting.
I have heard it said once that the measure of a man is valued in the countenance of his wife. I believe that. According to God, the same principles applies in governments, and that the measure of a civil servant, from mayor to president or king, is valued in the happiness of the people he serves.
No, promises, speeches or good intention can replace the vivid results of our actions. Faith has to be validated by works or it is dead. It is a pity how today we get excited at the empty promises of would-be officials who only try to lure our votes. Until today, the French King Henry lV from the Middle Ages, is remembered because of a decree that French people should afford to eat chicken every Sunday. Works accompanied this promise, and songs were written about this King. Until today, it is traditional for French people to eat chicken on Sunday. When such a king dies, there is mourning in the land; people rejoiced in his well-being, just as a wife would rejoice at the well-being of a very caring and considerate husband. But when the guillotine severed the head from the body of Louis XVI, who lived in exuberant wealth while the people of France starved, there was rejoicing in the land. No one cared for his well-being.
The only funeral I ever attended as a child was that of a great-aunt who was rich but as stingy as stingy could be. When she died, my family went through the memorial but then, they went to her old house and celebrated her death by opening a bottle of Champagne. In the famous Charles Dickens story, A Christmas Carol, the clincher that made Ebenezer Scrooge change his ways was when he saw the reaction of people after his death. People plundered his house; they did not mourn him; some were indifferent, others were even relieved.
This may sound a little morbid, but as time passes, reality declares that we have fewer years in front of us than we have behind us. Should such of us in this case start thinking of legacy? Will people mourn at our death? Will they rejoice? Will they be indifferent? Some people believe that from the other side, we attend our own funerals.
When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth:
And when the wicked perish, there is shouting.
I have heard it said once that the measure of a man is valued in the countenance of his wife. I believe that. According to God, the same principles applies in governments, and that the measure of a civil servant, from mayor to president or king, is valued in the happiness of the people he serves.
No, promises, speeches or good intention can replace the vivid results of our actions. Faith has to be validated by works or it is dead. It is a pity how today we get excited at the empty promises of would-be officials who only try to lure our votes. Until today, the French King Henry lV from the Middle Ages, is remembered because of a decree that French people should afford to eat chicken every Sunday. Works accompanied this promise, and songs were written about this King. Until today, it is traditional for French people to eat chicken on Sunday. When such a king dies, there is mourning in the land; people rejoiced in his well-being, just as a wife would rejoice at the well-being of a very caring and considerate husband. But when the guillotine severed the head from the body of Louis XVI, who lived in exuberant wealth while the people of France starved, there was rejoicing in the land. No one cared for his well-being.
The only funeral I ever attended as a child was that of a great-aunt who was rich but as stingy as stingy could be. When she died, my family went through the memorial but then, they went to her old house and celebrated her death by opening a bottle of Champagne. In the famous Charles Dickens story, A Christmas Carol, the clincher that made Ebenezer Scrooge change his ways was when he saw the reaction of people after his death. People plundered his house; they did not mourn him; some were indifferent, others were even relieved.
This may sound a little morbid, but as time passes, reality declares that we have fewer years in front of us than we have behind us. Should such of us in this case start thinking of legacy? Will people mourn at our death? Will they rejoice? Will they be indifferent? Some people believe that from the other side, we attend our own funerals.
I don’t know if it’s true, but does thinking about this possibility makes us want to change the way we live, especially the way we are with others?
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